They are also used to brand a variety of other items including wood and leather.

'Styled in Japan': an online shop that specializes in fashionable anti-UV parasols; an Etsy shop that features a unique collection of retro, vintage and antique Japanese treasures sourced from temple and flea markets in the Kansai area.But on March 21, in broad daylight on a London street, grammar school-educated Becky will take hold of a specially-designed branding iron, measuring four inches across and two inches wide, and made scalding hot by a blowtorch.Wearing a mask over her face and the over-sized apron of a slaughterhouse worker, she will then press the brand for several seconds into the bare chest of a man she met only recently over the internet, while he is restrained on the ground. His skin will blister and weep almost immediately and the brand will leave a wound so severe he will be permanently scarred with the numbers on the iron – 269.The demonstration will last just ten minutes but Becky, 34, hopes it will have resonance for far longer.She is a vegan – and one of a growing number of animal rights activists who are resorting to extreme tactics to make their views known.